Women's basketball: Buffs' Jeffery back on track in senior season

Guard was suspended for first game of season

Chucky Jeffery didn't have the start to her senior year that she had hoped for, but the point guard for the Colorado women's basketball team is focused on the future.

Today, Colorado (2-0) will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-4) in the 26th Annual Omni Hotels Classic. Auburn will face San Diego State in the first game at 5 p.m., followed by the Buffs' game at 7:30 p.m.

Jeffery, who was an All-Pac 12 selection last year, was suspended for CU's opener (as well as an exhibition game), delaying her debut.

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"Just me not taking care of my business off of the floor," she said of why she was suspended. "Some things should have been taken care of that I didn't end up taking care of. It got to a point where I had to miss a practice and when you miss a practice you miss a game.

"I paid the consequences for it, but I'm back on the right track now, so I'm looking forward from here."

Jeffery continued to practice with the Buffs, and even suited up for the games she missed. Still, she had to work her way back into the flow when she returned for the Buffs' win at Missouri-Kansas City on Sunday. She played a team-high 24 minutes, but had just five points on 2-of-9 shooting and two rebounds.

"It just felt good being back on the floor and playinga different team," she said.

A starter in 78 of the 95 games she has played as a Buff, Jeffery averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game a year ago. She has averaged 12.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists for her career.

Jeffery said the way her final year started bothers her, but she's eager to get back to being the player she's always been and helping the Buffs make a run to the NCAA Tournament.

"I can't dwell on it," she said. "I'm just looking forward to the season and a good season for our team."

A good showing this weekend will help the Buffs to have a good season. The overall competition this weekend is solid, starting with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders are winless, but faced the Buffs a year ago and will be motivated to knock them off.

Auburn (3-1) and San Diego State (2-1) was knocking on the door of the top-25 rankings before a season-opening loss at UCLA.

"This is our tournament," Jeffery said. "It's imperative for us to come out, play hard and get these two wins. It's going to be good for the program and for our team, especially if we can pull out a quality win. It'll look good for us in the long run, especially in the preseason."

More than anything, the Buffs want to see more improvement. They got better from Game 1 to Game 2, and hope to continue that progression.

"A big emphasis for us this year is to continue to do what we do and get better day in and day out," assistant coach Jonas Chatterton said.

Senior Meagan Malcolm-Peck said the back-to-back games are good for the team, especially the freshmen that have never experienced that at the college level. She said that, as team captain, she wants to see a solid team effort.

"I really want to see determination, everybody coming together and if something goes bad, just pick each other up and move on and really get into it and perform as well as we possibly can," she said.

Follow Brian on Twitter: @BrianHowell33.a different team," she said.

A starter in 78 of the 95 games she has played as a Buff, Jeffery averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game a year ago. She has averaged 12.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists for her career.

Jeffery said the way her final year started bothers her, but she's eager to get back to being the player she's always been and helping the Buffs make a run to the NCAA Tournament.

"I can't dwell on it," she said. "I'm just looking forward to the season and a good season for our team."

A good showing this weekend will help the Buffs to have a good season. The overall competition this weekend is solid, starting with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders are winless, but faced the Buffs a year ago and will be motivated to knock them off.

Auburn (3-1) and San Diego State (2-1) was knocking on the door of the top-25 rankings before a season-opening loss at UCLA.

"This is our tournament," Jeffery said. "It's imperative for us to come out, play hard and get these two wins. It's going to be good for the program and for our team, especially if we can pull out a quality win. It'll look good for us in the long run, especially in the preseason."

More than anything, the Buffs want to see more improvement. They got better from Game 1 to Game 2, and hope to continue that progression.

"A big emphasis for us this year is to continue to do what we do and get better day in and day out," assistant coach Jonas Chatterton said.

Senior Meagan Malcolm-Peck said the back-to-back games are good for the team, especially the freshmen that have never experienced that at the college level. She said that, as team captain, she wants to see a solid team effort.

"I really want to see determination, everybody coming together and if something goes bad, just pick each other up and move on and really get into it and perform as well as we possibly can," she said.

STORYLINES: CU will play in the second game of tonight's first round of the 26th Annual Omni Hotels Classic. Auburn (3-1) and San Diego State (2-1) will play at 5 p.m. ... CU has won 15 of the 24 Omni Hotels Classic titles. ... The Buffs have been in all but three of the 23 championship games (the 2006 event did not play a tournament format). ... CU is coming off a 78-55 win over Missouri-Kansas City on Sunday. ... The Buffs have won their two games by an average of 14.0 points, while the Islanders have lost by an average of 14.0. ... CU averages 74.0 points per game; the Islanders average 51.5.

KEY STAT: Colorado is 40-10 all-time at the Omni Hotels Classic.

COACHES: Linda Lappe is 41-30 in her third season at CU and 91-66 overall. Royce Chadwick is 0-4 in his first year at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and 561-306 in his career.

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